FAFEN Parliament Monitor 1of 14th00 National DA AssemblyYS 1.0 Executive Summary The 14th National Assembly took oath on June 1, 2013 after a landmark smooth and democratically managed transfer of power. Despite allegations of rigging and irregularities in the May 11 elections, the transition of power remained august as the newly-elected members took oath indicating at the increasing maturity that political organization had achieved, strengthening democracy. The oath-taking of members was followed by the election of the Speaker in a triangular contest that clearly established the majority of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PMLN) in the National Assembly. Following the Speaker's election, Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif was elected as the Prime Minister – Leader of the House – with 244 votes. This was the second time in the political history of Pakistan that the PMLN secured a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly. Earlier in 1997, the PMLN had formed the government with a two-thirds majority. However, they were undemocratically booted out in a military coup on October 12, 1999. The following table details the election results since 1970: Party Name 1970 1977 1988 1990 1993 1997 2002 2008 2013 PPPP 70 155 94 - 86 18 80 125 45 PMLN - - - - 73 135 18 92 190 Independent 12 8 40 22 15 21 1 20 8 1 IJI - - 54 106 - - - - - PMLQ/PML - - - - - - 118 50 2 MMAP/JUIF - - - - - - 59 8 12 Y L MQM - - - - - - 17 25 24 B PDA - - - 44 - - - - - M E PNA - 36 - - - - - - - S PTI - - - - - - 1 - 35 S A MQMH (Haq Parast) - - - 15 - 12 - - - L National Alliance - - - - - - 16 - - A PMLF - - - - - - 5 5 5 N O JI - - - - - - - - 4 I T PkMAP - - - - - - 1 - 4 A N NPP - - - - - - - 1 2 H ANP - - - - - - - 13 2 T AJIP - - - - - - - - 1 4 1 AMLP - - - - - - - - 1 F APML - - - - - - - - 1 O BNP - - - - - - 1 - 1 S Y NP - - - - - - - - 1 A D PPPS/QWPS - - - - - - 2 1 1 0 PMLZ - - - - - - 1 - 1 0 1 Obtaining a clear majority in the general elections is a unique feat that only PMLN has enjoyed in the country's political history. The majority gives the party immense control over legislative and policy-making processes without having to rely on the multiple and at times conflicting demands of coalition partners. Although the PMLN approached at least nine political parties to join the government, the negotiations were conducted from a position of strength, as their support was not critical in the number game. It was against this backdrop that the inaugural speech by PM Sharif on June 5, 2013 attained added significance, as it was an address that commanded support of a majority in the House. His words were a precursor to the shape of things to come and, therefore, deemed a roadmap for his government to follow during its five-year tenure. Although Mr. Sharif's speech was candid and comprehensive, it was inadequate as far as mentioning remedies to important issues such as terrorism and insurgency in Balochistan were concerned. The Prime Minister, in his inaugural address, identified at least eight themes that his government will focus on during its tenure. The focus of his speech remained on eight key areas – economic development; democracy and political development; foreign relations, particularly an even better relationship with China; good governance; strengthening the federation; peace building and conflict resolution; energy sector reforms and protection of human rights. The following table is a qualitative analysis of the Premier's speech. The table also shows the number of times the Prime Minister mentioned the issues with an action plan to resolve them. Sr.No. Issue Mention Action Plan 1 Economic Development 8 0 2 Democracy and Political Development 6 2 3 Foreign Relations 2 1 4 Good Governance 2 3 5 Strengthening Federation 5 2 6 Peace Building and Conflict Resolution 6 0 7 Energy Sector Reforms 1 1 2 8 Protection of Human Rights 1 0 Total 31 9 However the tradition of bypassing the elected houses in Economic development initiatives include major decisions continued as the government took critical measures to boost the economy, build decisions such as an operation in Karachi and negotiations infrastructure and reduce poverty, inflation and with the Taliban etc. without bringing them to the floor of the unemployment etc. National Assembly or Senate. Democracy and political development Thus far, the Treasury has not put forth substantive agendas includes the government's resolve to uphold the to make parliamentary headway on the priorities set forth by constitution, resist undemocratic forces and the Prime Minister. On the contrary, it appeared that the support the decisions taken by the provincial governments. Opposition Benches were more interested in what PM Sharif had laid out in his address. Almost half of the agenda Foreign relations deal with improving relations relevant to the Prime Minister's articulated priorities came with other countries, especially the neighbors, from the Opposition. building relations on an equal basis and protecting the country's interest at international The PM and his cabinet's low attendance during the first 100 forums. parliamentary days established their indifference to the Good governance initiatives focus on elected House. Ministers remained absent during Question eradication of corruption and increasing Hour, leaving many of the questions unaddressed. transparency in government and semi- Keeping elected representatives away from crucial government departments. decisions was not limited to domestic front alone. On foreign S t r e n g t h e n i n g f e d e r a t i o n i n c l u d e s relations, crucial announcements such as the declaration of establishing harmony among provincial Pakistan having no favorites in Afghanistan were never governments, building positive links with all discussed in the parliament. political stakeholders, taking decision while The Opposition's participation in appointment of key keeping in view the interests of all federating persons heading parliamentary bodies and state institutions units, and cooperation with political parties to in post-18th Constitutional Amendment scenario turned out resolve national issues. to be a roadblock for the government, as it could not forge an Peace building and conflict resolution agreement on the appointment of chairpersons for standing initiatives focus on improving law and order, committees, Chief Election Commissioner and the National combatting terrorism and extremism, and Accountability Bureau Chairperson. restoring peace in conflict-hit areas. Energy sector reforms FAFEN has analyzed the first 100 days of the National include measures to Assembly, the government's actions and interventions to end power crisis and build up on alternative follow up on the priorities identified by the Prime Minister in energy resources. his inaugural address. The primary focus of this report is on Protection of human rights deals with the the parliamentary interventions made by members in the constitutional rights of citizens especially Lower House that directly co-relate to the themes identified women, minorities and marginalized groups. in the Premier's speech. The analysis is based on direct observation of the 14th National Assembly being conducted as part of FAFEN's Parliament Watch and Reforms Project (PWRP), which aims at enhancing parliamentary transparency and responsiveness. The contextual information is drawn from secondary sources such as newspapers and independent research organizations. Although not exhaustive, FAFEN has taken due care detailing and categorizing the issues identified by the Prime Minister in his inaugural speech in order to assess the performance of the government. 2.0 Analysis of Prime Minister's Speech with Parliamentary Proceedings 2.1 Economic Development Despite Prime Minister's commitment towards economic development, the Treasury did not present any business on economic wellbeing and development in the National Assembly’s first 100 days. Thus far, the assembly has only passed the Finance Bill 2013 after a two-week debate in the House. A cursory glance at the contents of the bill – passed on June 27, 2013 – reveals that it did not reflect PMLN's policies in entirety. The Finance Bill, with an outlay of Rs3.985 trillion, had been generally described as a business-friendly budget with little relief to masses. The government was criticized for its lack of serious efforts in broadening the tax base, failure in taxing the agricultural income and further burdening existing taxpayers. A 1% increase in General Sales Tax (GST), allocation of Rs1.1 trillion for the Public Sector Development Program, target of 3 maintaining single digit inflation, continuation of Benazir Income Support Program, allotment of Rs225 billion for the energy sector and the payment of the circular debt of Rs500 billion were the salient features of the budget passed by the new government. Y Some of the provisions of the finance bill such as seeking a reduction in Prime Minister House's expenditure by L 44%, VIPs required to pay duties and taxes for importing vehicles, abolition of all organizations' and B autonomous bodies' secret funds, reduction in the number of ministries from 40 to 28, and a markup-free loan M scheme (50% of whose beneficiaries will be women) were generally appreciated. The collection of GST before E S the passage of Finance Bill stirred a judicial action as well as political and media uproar and the government S had to provide a legislative cover to the collection. A In comparison, the Opposition seemed more interested in putting forth agenda about economic development L A than the Treasury. The Opposition submitted three resolutions seeking steps for economic development. N However, none of them was taken up by the House. A Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) legislator presented a resolution O I urging the government to complete work on Lowari Tunnel. The government allocated Rs1 billion for the tunnel T in the PSDP. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly subsequently adopted a resolution asking for the amount to A be increased to Rs4 billion, which the federal government ignored.